Belt conveyor and safety mechanism therefor



y 1955 J. s. KURTZ ETAL 3,185,289

BELT CONVEYOR AND SAFETY MECHANISM THEREFOR Original Filed July 9, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS day/v s. KURTZ uzugz GRAVES BY at? F 147 70/P/l/E VJ M y 1965 J. 5. KURTZ ETAL BELT CONVEYOR AND SAFETY MECHANISM THEREFOR 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed July 9, 1962 May 25, 1965 J. 5. KURTZ ETAL BELT CONVEYOR AND SAFETY MECHANISM THEREFOR Original Filed July 9, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 May 25, 1965 J. 5. KURTZ ETAL BELT CONVEYOR AND SAFETY MECHANISM THEREFOR 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Original Filed July 9, 1962 FIG. 6

m m W w m ym M MH r Z a M m United States Patent 3,185,289 BELT CONVEYGR AND SAFETY MEQHANiSP/i THEREFGR John Kurtz, Ephrata, Pa, and .lewcl Graves, Holland, Mich, assignors to Big Dutchman, lint-2., a corporation of Michigan Griginai application July 9, 1962, Ser. No. 203,302, now Patent No. 3,166,175, dated Jan. 19, 1965. Divided and this application July 2, 1964, Ser. No. 384,289

3 Qlaims. (Cl. 198-232) This application is a division of Serial No. 208,302, now Patent No. 3,166,175.

This invention relates to conveyors and more particularly to egg handling apparatus including belt conveyor means and a safety mechanism in combination therewith.

Poultry husbandry today involves a great deal of automation both in feeding and egg gathering. Optimum automation for egg gathering requires conveyor means adapted to transport eggs directly from the nests to a central gathering point. This can often involve transporting eggs from several diiferent nest housings including hundreds of individual nests.

Further, since the egg transfer conveyor belt mechanism is preferably formed of a substance such as jute which provides excellent egg transfer characteristics, the belts are highly responsive to changing moisture conditions to stretch or contract large amounts. These belts can cause a great deal of egg breakage when they slacken and get wound around the power roller. Further, if a conventional tensioner element is used to hold the belt taut regardless of slack, the overlapping joined ends of the belt forming a thick juncture portion tend to cause the belt to jerk and snap through the tensioner, thereby upsetting the eggs and causing breakage.

It is another object of this invention to provide an egg conveyor belt safety mechanism preventing winding up of the belt on a power roller to thereby upset the eggs.

These and many other objects of this invention will be apparent upon studying the following specification in conjunction with the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a typical nest housing having the conveyor means and elevator means of this invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the elevator apparatus and adjacent conveyor means;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the novel elevator apparatus viewed from the opposite side of that side illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 and showing apparatus for transferring from the elevator;

FIG. 4 is an elevational partially schematic view of the main driving mechanism for the conveyor and elevator;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the power roller means of the egg conveyor mechanism and the belt control and safety apparatus therefor;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of a portion of one of the conveyor levels adjacent the elevator, and showing the novel alignment means for eggs to be transferred onto the elevator;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary perspective View of the idler roller device of the conveyor means;

PEG. 8 is a side elevational, sectional, partially schematic view of the elevator apparatus and its association with bars isrdisrupted with passage ,of thickened joined portions of the belt. The belt further is prevented from tangling around the power rollers to cause egg breakage, by a safety switch pivoting member adapted to shut down the equipment.

Other features of the invention will be readily apparent from the detailed description. Referring to the drawings, the egg handling and transfer apparatus 10 includes egg elevator 12 and conveyor means 14 shown as including upper and lower levels. The conveyor is shown associated with a pair of back-to-back nest housing 16 and 16' between which the conveyer means is mounted for cooperation with both. Idler mechanism 18 at the far end reverses the direction of the two belts shown, or any number of belts as desired.

The nest housings 16 and 15, as well as the conveyor mechanism between the houses may be supported on an adjustable stand means 20 such as that disclosed more specifically in copending application Serial No. 208,297, filed July 9, 1962, entitled Nest Support now US. Patent No. 3,124 102. The individual nests 22 each include an egg roll-out opening 24 in the back cooperative with the conveyor mechanism to transfer laid eggs onto the particular conveyor level concerned. The conveyor can include a plurality of levels, here shown for convenience to be two. Each level may include a metallic support 3% with a belt 32 traveling thereover. Each belt is preferably formed of a material such as jute and is driven by a pair of adjacent power rollers, e.g. 36 and 38 for upper belt 32, and power rollers 40 and 42 for lower belt 33 on lower support 31. The power rollers may be driven by suitable motor means, such as electrical motor 48, here shown as part of power drive mechanism 15 in a suitable housing.

In order to understand the detailed description of the apparatus more clearly, it should be realized that each of the two levels of the conveyor shown operates independently of each other in transferring eggs from one level of the nest housings, to the elevator apparatus 12 where the eggs are transferred from the individual conveyor levels to the single elevator. The eggs are carried up one side of the elevator (as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2), crossed over at the top by cross-over member 5% lowered down the opposite side of the elevator on the back side of individual flights of the elevator, and then transferred by rotating spider unloader member 52 onto horizontal egg receiving surface 54. Surface 54 may comprise a table, a conveyor belt or any other suitable receiving surface as the situation requires.

Each of the belts is drawn across their elongated support surface by their respective pair of power rollers, passes into a slack bin 7d, passes through the novel tensioning means '72, and then returns to the other end of the nest housings 16 and 16, to go around idler rollers of idler mechanism 18.

Upper idler roller 76, accommodating upper belt 32, is mounted in a pair of bearings '78 and 80, while lower idler roller 82, accommodating lower belt 33, is mounted between a similar pair of bearings 84 and 85. Each of the bearings includes a pair of studs 88 and 90 which extend through vertical slots 92 and 94 of the idler support 18 to provide vertical adjustment of the rollers. Also, each of the roller studs includes a pair of lock nuts 96 and 98 to enable the ends of each roller .to be adjusted toward or away from the support stand. Thus, the idler rollers have practically universal adjustment due to these features.

The tensioning means 72 of the belt must be capable of controlling the tension of the belt while also preventing the belt from jerking or jumping when thickened portion 100 forming the sewn junction of the ends of the now endless belt passes through. In otherv words, as thickened ansaaso portion 160 contacts the plate, it stops briefly. After considerable stretching of the belt and considerable force is exerted. on the belt, portion 100 rapidly passes between the plates, causing them to open up wide against the bias of their compressing springs. The belt has a tendency to snap through with a jerk. With prior art tensioners, this tends to throw the eggs about on the conveyor and cause breakage. Applicants novel tensioning apparatus 72 overcomes this. It includes at least two upper members 102 and 104 biased against common lower plate 106 by compression springs 108 and 110. If desired, instead of one lower plate 106, two plates may be substituted. The device assures positive control in a non-jerking fashion of the belt, since when thickened portion ltltl lifts and passes underneath first plate 104 to disrupt its regular action, the second plate 102 maintains control over the belt to prevent it from jerking the egg carrying part of the belt. While the thickened portion passes beneath the second plate, the first plate maintains control over the belt. Thus, jerking of the belt is eliminated.

The belt mechanism of the egg transfer apparatus includes still another safety feature to forestall egg breakage. The slack .belt passing through power rollers 36 and 38 are prevented from winding up on roller 36 to thus jam the apparatus and throw eggs about. This is done with novel safety release means 116 which includes a pivotal lever or plate 118 having its foremost surface adjacent the periphery of roller 36, and being spring biased toward the emerging belt 32 from between the power rollers. This bias is achieved preferably by a tension spring 120 between belt support and the lever 118 on the opposite side of its pivotal mounting axis. A micro-switch 122 is normally pressed against the under surface of belt support 30 or against any other surface by this biased action, to hold the switch normally closed. The switch controls power to the conveyor driving motor 48. If belt 32 emerging from the rollers 36 and 38 starts to wind around the roller 36, it bunches against the foremost surface of the lever 118 causing pressure on it to pivot it against its spring bias 120. This moves micro-switch 122 away from surface 30 to open the switch and shut-off electrical power to motor 48, which thereby shuts down the entire mechanism to prevent further damage until the situation is rectified. The foremost edge of bin 70 is positioned adjacent lower roller 38 to prevent any slack from winding around it.

Motor 48 drives the conveyor belts by driving rollers 36, 38, and 42 through chain 14s, sprockets 142, 144, 146, 148 and idler sprockets 15% and 152. It also drives the elevator apparatus through belt 156 driven by sprocket 146 and passing around idler sheaves 158 and 160 to sheave 162 operably mounted to the cross-over member of the elevator.

The elevator mechanism includes a pair of endless chains 170 and 172 which pass around sprockets on the axle of the top cross-over member 50, and around sprockets 174 at the bottom of the elevator. The elevator 12 is supported by a pair of end positioned, spaced, uprights 180 and 182 having feet 184 and 186. Power means 15 is preferably integrally attached to these vertical supports and includes a third foot 183.

Bars 212 are supported by end plates 216 and 218, which are affixed to conveyor chains 17b and 172. Each of the flights 213 passes successively past the two conveyor levels to receive eggs therefrom. The eggs are deflected from the conveyors by respective diagonal reflecting members 240 and 242 under which the belts travel. The lower deflecting member 24a is adapted to roll eggs unto the first half of the flights, while the upper diagonal deflecting member 242 is positioned to roll eggs unto the second half of the conveyor flights. If three or more conveyor levels are used, the elongated pockets defined by bars 212 will be divided into three or more sections rather than two as illustrated. This division of the flight prevents eggs from an upper level from rolling onto another egg from a lower level causing breakage. If desired, a

central dividing member may also be utilized to prevent any eggs from rolling from the first half of the conveyor to the second half.

Since the conveyor mechanism may be adjusted with respect to the vertical uprights of the elevator, a control means is provided to prevent eggs from rolling off the conveyor unto the elevator flights when the flights are several inches below the level of the conveyor. In other words, as the individual flights of the elevator rise and approach the level of each conveyor, the eggs must be allowed to roll off the'conveyor only when the flight is practically aligned with it. Therefore, a pivotal control means 250 is provided for the lower conveyor, and means 252 is provided for the upper conveyor. Each of these control means essentially comprises a U-shaped element formed of a pair of short end legs 254 and a long crossbar 256. Each of the end legs is pivotally mounted to panel 208 of the elevator.

In order to assure that the eggs are in an axially aligned condition in an optimum manner on bars 212, a pair of cooperating orienting fingers 270 and 272 are provided on each conveyor to form a gate. These gates may be formed of light resilient spring metal fingers or the like which converge toward each other to form a narrow outlet gate 274 having a width substantially that of the width of eggs 214-. As eggs 214 are conveyed along on the belts, they are specifically oriented as illustrated in FIG. 6, with their long dimension generally unidirectional with rods 212. Thus, as the eggs contact the diagonal deflecting member 242, they are rolled laterally in a uniform manner to assure proper positioning on the bars 212. This is especially important also with cross-over member 59. The fingers are resilient to move out for a thick egg, but they are biased to their most convergent condition. It will be apparent that the spring metal may be substantially plastic, or even spring biased pivotal fingers which are not resilient. However, the resilient fingers are much preferred due to their flexible, gentle, dependable orienting action.

Cross-over member 50 includes a pair of circular end discs 300 between which are mounted a plurality of rods 302, preferably coated with a cushion material such as rubber. In fact, it is preferable to coat all the rods of this apparatus with a cushion material such as rubber, plastic or the like. These rods 302 are placed to generally form a star, shown to have four points in the form of the invention illustrated, with concave recesses between the points of the star. The discs and rods rotate as driven by belt 156 (FIG. 4) in synchronism with movement of conveyor chains 179 and 172 around their endless path. The flights of the elevator are caused to coincide with the points of the star (FIG. 8) as the flights pass around the cross-over. Eggs positioned on one side of the flights gently roll through the concave recesses between the points of the star as the endless chain and flights move over the topmost part of their endless path, and come to rest on the opposite side of the adjacent flight (FIG. 8). As the flights continue down, conveyor chains and 172 move down and around special sprockets 3G4 and 366 which cause the flights to tilt and discharge eggs thereon.

In order to provide a positive, gentle discharge of the eggs from these flights to support surface 54, a special spider wheel 52 or discharge mechanism is utilized. This includes a pair of circular end discs adapted to rotate, and having mounted therebetween a plurality of bars 310. These bars are mounted in groups to form radially extending support means or wings having generally concave elongated pockets formed by a group of three bars. This curve includes a lower support surface 312 which may comprise a plastic coated wire mesh as illustrated in FIG. 3. A collection or discharge surface may comprise a table 54 mounted to vertical uprights 180 and 182 of the elevator mechanism. It should be realized that this discharge surface may be a counting table, a washing mechanism, another conveyor belt, or any other suitable surface.

Operation Eggs laid by chickens or other fowl in nest housings 16 and 16' roll out the respective rear openings 24 of the individual nests 22 and unto either conveyor belt 32 or conveyor belt 33 depending upon the particular nest involved. The eggs are conveyed along on the belt and pass through the aligning fingers 274 and 272 (FIG. 6) and out the gate to become aligned properly. The diagonal surface 242 causes the eggs to roll laterally for loading onto the elevator flights 213. The eggs are prevented from rolling onto the lights when the flight bars are substantially below the height of the conveyors, by timer or control elements 250 and 252. As each individual flight of the conveyor moves upwardly and pivots the respective control element out of the way, the individual eggs are allowed to roll unto the conveyor bars. They are carried upwardly and shifted from one side of the individual flights to the opposite side of the adjacent flight by star wheel or cross-over 50, at the top of the conveyor. The eggs are then carried downwardly where they are tilted off the individual flights and are removed in a smooth fashion by rotating spider wheel 52 which guides them unto surface 54. Driving action of the conveyor as well as the elevator is achieved through the chain and belt elements illustrated in FIG. 4. Control is obtained over the two respective conveyor belts 31 and 32 by tension control means 72 and safety shut-off means 116. The eggs are thus assured of a gentle, non-jerking passage from the nest to the gathering surface 54.

Various other advantages, not heretofore enumerated, but obvious from the illustrated form of the invention and the principles taught will occur to those in the art. Also, various other obvious modifications of the apparatus may occur to those in the art to suit a particular situation. These obvious modifications are deemed to be part of this invention if within the principles taught, since this invention is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims, and the reasonably equivalent structures to those defined therein.

We claim:

1. An egg conveyor belt and safety mechanism for a belt tending to have slack therein comprising: roller means including idler rollers and cooperative belt drive pulling rollers; power motor means for said drive rollers; a pivotal member adjacent one of said drive rollers at a portion thereof uncovered by belt, and biased generally toward the belt-emerging space between said drive rollers; electrical switch means adapted to be thrown by pivoting of said member and being electrically connected to said motor means to deactivate said motor means upon pivoting of said member; and said member being close to said one drive roller to be pivoted by the pressure of excess belt tending to follow said one drive roller around, to thereby throw said switch and deactivate said motor means to prevent belt binding.

2. A belt conveyor and safety mechanism comprising: an elongated belt support surface; an endless belt extending around said surface, with one upper conveying portion on said surface, another return portion under said surface, and said belt having slack; guide roller means at opposite ends of said surface for said belt, including a pair of cooperative, belt pulling rollers at one end, between which said belt passes; one of said pair also being a guide roller around a substantial arcuate portion of which the belt passes; electrical motor means operatively associated with said pulling rollers; a safety mechanism to prevent belt wind up on said pulling rollers, including a shiftable member mounted on the belt outlet side of said pulling rollers, with one portion immediately adjacent the remaining arcuate portion of said one roller to detect a belt thereon, and biased generally toward the belt-emerging space between said pulling rollers; said member being shifted by belt winding around said upper roller; electrical switch means adapted to be thrown by shifting of said member, and being electrically associated with said electrical motor means to deactivate said motor means upon shifting of said member to prevent binding of said belt around the pulling rollers.

3. The mechanism in claim 2 including a belt slack receiving bin having a scoop edge immediately adjacent the second one of said pulling rollers to force the belt to pass into said bin and prevent it from winding around said second roller.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,832,204 11/31 Healy 198--232 SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner.

WILLIAM B. LA BORDE, Examiner. 

1. AN EGG CONVEYOR BELT AND SAFETY MECHANISM FOR A BELT TENDING TO HAVE SLACK THEREIN COMPRISING: ROLLER MEANS INCLUDING IDLER ROLLERS AND COOPERATIVE BELT DRIVE PULLING ROLLERS; POWER MOTOR MEANS FOR SAID DRIVE ROLLERS; A PIVOTAL MEMBER ADJACENT ONE OF SAID DRIVE ROLLERS AT A PORTION THEREOF UNCOVERED BY BELT, AND BIASED GENERALLY TOWARD THE BELT-EMERGING SPACE BETWEEN SAID DRIVE ROLLERS; ELECTRICAL SWITCH MEANS ADAPTED TO BE THROWN BY PIVOTING OF SAID MEMBER AND BEING ELECTRICALLY CONNECTED TO SAID MOTOR MEANS TO DEACTIVATE SAID MOTOR MEANS UPON PIVOTING OF SAID MEMBER; AND SAID MEMBER BEING CLOSE TO SAID ONE DRIVE ROLLER TO BE PIVOTED BY THE PRESSURE OF EXCESS BELT TENDING TO FOLLOW SAID ONE DRIVE ROLLER AROUND, TO THEREBY THROW SAID SWITCH AND DEACTIVATE SAID MOTOR MEANS TO PREVENT BELT BINDING. 